LA Reid: “I Dropped Lady GaGa Because I Was Having A Bad Day”

Before inking a deal at Interscope Recordings with Jimmy Iovine and going onto become the most iconic act to debut within the last ten years, Pop composer Lady GaGa was in fact in signed to Rihanna‘s label- Island Def Jam- which was at the time headed by X Factor USA judge LA Reid.

Subsequently dropped not long after signing to the company, the one time drama student has openly discussed how her dismissal from the label affected both her music and self esteem, even singing about it in the song ‘Paper Gangsta‘.

Now Mr. Reid has revealed exactly why he made the decision to let her go, and his reason may just surprise you.

95 Comments

He’s a b**** for letting GAGA go and not letting Justin Bieber go instead. like… and people have the nerve especially his little annoying fans who don’t know what great music is, put him in the same sentence or comparing him to the greats that came before him, or before he was even born. I don’t get it! but I never buy this kids music.
just putting my two cents in..

Letting gaga go and keeping this untalented chic ___________! La Reid, i bet you made that up. “having a bad day?” is an excuse? or statement of embarrassment
Letting gaga go and signing Justin Bieber? fhgyrhjsjjdsbfifksjf
Two artist he kept that will not see the time of day in the next 20 yrs in music. I bet gaga will still be there.

well def jam turned down nicki minaj and others back in the day,so gaga is just in a long line of that,well regardless Nicki and Gaga are successful and doing there thing at the top of there game,what don’t kill you makes you stronger,nothing is easy in this life.

I can’t stand Gaga or Rihanna for that matter but how in the f*** can you drop a talented person like Gaga and keep Rihanna?

Well I guess like that saying is still true “s** SELLS” and I wonder how many times Rihanna had to suck LA’s d*** or lay down for him just to get where she’s at…because you don’t drop a talented artist from your label and focus all your time, energy and attention towards somebody who can’t even pose in a picture without spreading her legs.

Yeah, foolish thing to do, but SOMETHING tells me that L.A. Reid and Lady GaGa will meet again very soon.If the dog’s dinner that she calls the ‘Born This Way’ era is anything to go by, then she may actually need some help from him in the future…Just saying

That woman laughing ain’t s*** funny! And look where Gaga is today she took all that s*** in and she is slaying s*** right now her, my fave Beyoncé and Adele are the most talented artists out there right now. How you gone tell someone that you they are an amazing artist and they will change music and then drop them later that is really some f***** up s*** LA Reid.

@ christinacoming…. I must agree he saw the fast money instead of focusing on gaga. I have said it and will again. LA Reid is not interested in an artist longevity. He wants them to start right away and will not focus on their growth. One of the reasons Jay z left def Jam and opened his own is because he had to beg too much to support their own artist . Look how he worked on J Cole, and now on Alexis Jordan.
Ever wonder why rihanna is rushing albums?because has has to replace that n****** money for the 4 flop ones she had. She maybe praying for her contract to end. He will never tell her take some time to improve her art. greedy n****
La Reid is such a pig!!!

JUST TO SAY, I AM NOT YELLING BY HAVING MY CAPS LOCK ON, IT’S JUST MESSED UP RIGHT NOW.

FIRSTLY, THIS IS OLD NEWS

SECONDLY, TGJ STAFF IS SO BEGINNER STATUS IT’S GETTING ANNOYING. LEARN HOW TO WRITE WITHOUT HAVING TO INSERT A SINGLE THAT THAT PARTICULAR ARTIST SANG. ALL YOU’RE DOING IS TRYING TO MAKE THE POST LONGER, BUT YOU’RE JUST FAILING. THAT GRAPEJUICE STAFF, IF YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO USE FORUM AS AN OPPORTUNITY TO SHOW YOUR FUTURE POTENTIAL EMPLOYERS YOUR WRITING STYLE AND NUMBER OF WORKS, YOU WILL FAIL BECAUSE YOUR STYLE OF WRITING IS CONSTANTLY REPETITIVE AND JUVENILE.

Def Jam is not a good label in general. With them, you have to maintain a certain image, sound etc…you can’t even be yourself with them. Why do you think Fefe Dobson was dropped from them? Because they wanted her to have this image (the one they built for Rihanna) and she said it was against her morals and everything she stood for.

I honestly do believe that Rihanna could one day make music that will have some kind of lasting effect on us, but until then, since she’s stuck with LA, she has to uphold this certain image just to sell.

And you’re so right, LA is just focused on a quick buck and not interested in building somebody’s brand or image. LA’s that “Do it my way or hit the highway” kind of guy!

Its because Tranny Caca didnt give him good head like RiRi and Tranny Caca is a Male who Mr. Reid would not let by his d***.BLEACHonce got dropped from Def Jam because the Theiving h** couldn’t suck a d*** either.

@ Rated XXX if you were following “joe camel” you would know why he left def jam and not sugar quoting it. He held J cole album back to make sure he was heading the right direction with his music and to build his fan base and image whilst touring. You are such an idiot. If he was worried about himself he would have j cole release his album 2 yrs ago and allow it to flop and still make his money. Alexis Jordon would be releasing albums and he would be making money, instead he is preping her. If he was interested in himself he wouldn’t invest time in his artist and not make the money what def jam was not interested in . quality is better than quantity. It is better to have 5 artist that will be there years from now that to have 10 and cannot sustain longevity.
“Joe camel”doesn’t have to work again, keep that in mind

I think the fact Gaga is so new in the game that makes ms not completely discredit him. While this album isnt a flop it’s still significantly underperformed next to her first album and The Fame Monster. I think it’s one thing to have a singer who can consistently bring in at least decent #’s but Gaga is a major risk. You love her, hate her, or are ambivalent to her and only 1 of those is a good thing.

I think that’s why Gaga has so dillgentky stressed building loyalty among her fan base, because if that loyal bond wasn’t there things could have been quite bad this go around.

Third album will tell whether she was a flash in the pan or someone with a long future.

@ChristinasCOMING
Gaga’s Born this Way era was the only way she knew she’d actually sell. Use the gay community to sell.

I disagree. The fact is Lady Gaga is the biggest superstar we have today. She is now like Michael Jackson during ‘Thriller’. Everything she does it turns into a big pop event. Born This Way was only successful because it was Lady Gaga’s first single from her new album. She had a massive hype around it. If it was released by anybody else, it wouldn’t have that massive success.

@Kimberly
first of all, calling me an idiot is suppose to prove what? all it proves is that ur information is wrong and u feel the need to act a fool, because, somebody thats not kissing joe camels ass knows more information than u..

I’m not going to stoop to ur level..

second..its a known fact that when joe camle was on def jam, his artists wasnt happy at the fact that her was releasing his own albums..vs theirs….and spending money on rihanna, and negleting them

@If he was interested in himself he wouldn’t invest time in his artist and not make the money what def jam was not interested in …

oh please with that b*******….how many artist he has on his label?…how many of them is out there getting promotions?

hell rihanna is not even on his label, all he does is manages her..and yet she gets more promotions than any of his artist…

like I said, jay z aka joe camel did not leave def jam because they didnt want to give him money to promote his artists…he already had the money..ask nas, ask ll cool j..and all the other artist that were left in the dust, while joe camel was promoting his own s***..

Well that was a dumb move Mr. Reid. You could’ve had one of the biggest popstar in the world on your label. Lord knows, I can’t stand Gaga but the women is talented and she cares about her fans. Not to mention she rakes in the dough…lol! She has been in the game 1/4 the time Rihanna has, and she’s already at the top of Forbes list. Just saying.

^ ^ ^ if she is only eye candy, how is it she has 11 # 1 smash hits, met and passed the great Madonna in accomplishments, had 5 # 1 hits in 1 year, made so much history left right and center and so on and so on. Lol for u to make this post about Rihanna too. Bad try. Rihanna doing her just fine.

First of all, nicki is talented. She writes her own songs, is business savy, makes that dough, can rap. People just underestimate the way she raps because it’s not what they are use to hearing. It’s a different delivery. But that b**** got punchlines for days. That’s why wayne signed her so GTFO @army. Wasn’t even tryna argue but u a jealous twit. Btw, Gaga is a lot more talented than rihanna. But I like em both.

Born this Way sold 6 million within a few months. It is estimated to have sold about 8 million as of September (that’s a 4 month span from its release). How long did it take Rihanna to sell 6 million with LOUD? About a year? Oh ok…

Yeah it appears L.A. messed up, he ” left” Def Jam with more than just that as a bad decision. Whether it be pouring too much money into projects that really didn’t have legs or dropping artisst, something about him is not right. Justin Beiber may be a great “replacement” but he could have had virtually all the biggest artists of the last couple of years all signed under his label. Oh Well!

Yet somehow he manages to step right into another executive role with another group label. He also was the man who was in charge when Toni Braxton filed her 1st bankruptcy ( she supposedly signed a really bad deal and was basically financing her own shows, etc.) and TLC were broke and allegedly mismanaged by Pebbles, his wife at the time. He has had some major successes ( Pink, Usher,etc.) but who knows what goes on behind the scenes for real.

I guess we will know if or when the next major star he has helped craft goes broke. Maybe that’s just show business?

b****** PLEASE, Born This Way has sold over 8 million copies, and Adele has over 10 million, because they have TALENT. Im pretty sure I could get #1 hits too if a was a no vocal skills having ho popping my p**** all on stage, If you gon STAN FOR RIHANNA, STAN CORRECTLY HOS!! *The Navy Ships Slowly Sink*

I enjoy this website but the Rihanna dissing is old. She’s f****** great…everything a pop star should be, she has. She keeps breaking records and racking up the hits without all the props that make GaGa. I do love GaGa, but the focus should be her music, not a meat dress. #justsayin’

BTW was a FLOP, It barely saw 5 Million & STILL cant see 2 MILLION in the STATES (even though it managed to fake its way toward 1M 1st Wk) Beys album on the otherhand stayed in the TOP 10 for 10 Whole Weeks while FLOP this way was gone by the 3rd/4Th WK!! & already sold 2 million off a R&B Album because of TALENT!!

Who knows how things wuda wrkd out had she signd with hm…theyd prob try to market her as a nw brit bot or cristina…awl d shyt thats happnd 2 ha has made her who she is…nd she’s kewl in my basic opinion

I don’t know where the oher 1 and two million is coming from Keep it cute.

Adele has sold 10
Rihanna has sold 6
BOOM!

And why would he DROP Rihanna for Gaga?? And yall are forgetting LADY GAGA wa snot like she was NOW. She had BROWN HAIR, Dressed like a drag queen, rip tight’s bra showing it was nOT cute so I don’t blame him. Gaga got her fame when her Label DYED her hair blonde and manufactured her to be the star she is nohing wrong with that bu yhh Rihanna and gaga are BOTH one of the most sucessful pop starts this year so it’s a win win.

I’m in no way a Gaga fan, however the smug comments by Mr Reid, futher exemplify why I believe he is an ARROGANT PRICK. I know his comment about him having a bad day is supposed to be a joke…or at least I hope it is, cuz if that’s the real reason, he needs to never have a job as the head of any label. Gimmicks aside, Gaga has more talent and creativity in her baby toe than Justin Bieber and Rihanna, so the fact that he dropped her and signed Bieber and thinks that makes up for it is RIDICULOUS and PREPOSTEROUS!

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